Optical disk and optical disk drive device

ABSTRACT

An optical disk physical has a recording region divided into zones, each zone including physical tracks adjacent to each other. An integer number of sectors, are provided in each physical track. The angular recording density is higher in the more outward zones such that the linear recording density is substantially constant throughout the recording region, and logical tracks are formed of a predetermined number of sectors, independent of the physical tracks. The conversion between the logical track and sector addresses read from the disk and the linear logical addresses supplied from a host device is easy. The addresses written in headers of the sectors in the logical track in which data are actually recorded, including substitute sectors used in place of defect sectors, are preferably consecutive to further facilitate the conversion between the logical track and sector addresses read from the disk and the linear logical addresses supplied from the host device. Each of the zones can be set to serve as any of the different types of recording area, independently of other zones.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to an optical disk permittingreading and writing of data while being rotated at a constant angularvelocity, and more particularly to an optical disk having a recordingsurface divided into a plurality of zones, with clocks of higherfrequencies being used for the access to the more outward zones so thatthe recording linear density is substantially identical between theouter and inner zones.

[0002] The present invention also relates to an optical disk whichcontains different types of recording media for the respective zones,and in which the types of the respective zones can be altered during useof the disk.

[0003] The present invention also relates to an optical disk drivedevice used for writing in and reading from the above-mentioned opticaldisks.

[0004] Known optical disks of the type having a storage capacity of 1 GBon each surface have a format proposed in ECMA/TC31/92/36. According tothis proposal, the recording surface of the optical disk is divided intoa plurality of zones equally, i.e., such that the numbers of thephysical tracks in the respective zones are substantially equal. Thenumber of zones depends on the size of the sector. If each sectorconsists of 512 bytes, the number of the zones is 34 If each sectorconsists of 1024 bytes, the number of the zones is 30.

[0005] Each physical track has an integer number of sectors. The numberof sectors in each track is constant throughout each zone. The number ofsectors in each track is larger in more outward zones.

[0006] The optical disks that are available are either those of the R/W(read/write or rewritable) type which permit writing and rewriting asdesired, and those of the WO (write-once) type which permit writing onlyonce after fabrication, and those of O-ROM (embossed) type in which datais written at the time of fabrication, by embossing, and which do notpermit writing after fabrication.

[0007] The number of sectors in each physical track differs from onezone to another, as described above. A complex algorithm is needed forindexing the physical location of the target sector when for instancethe optical disk is used as a SCSI device, and is supplied with linear(consecutive-integer-numbered) logical addresses. Moreover, the datafield in each sector in an innermost physical track of a certain zoneand the header field in each sector in an outermost physical track ofanother zone next to and inside of the first-mentioned zone may beadjacent to each other, with the result that the crosstalk from theheader field may degrade the quality of the data read from the datafield. This is because the information on the header field is written inthe form of pit (embossment) and has a greater degree of modulation,causing a greater crosstalk, while the information in the data field ismagneto-optically written and has a smaller degree of modulation. Inthis connection, it is noted that within each zone, header fields in allthe tracks are radially aligned and data fields in all the tracks areradially aligned, so that a header field and a data field will not beadjacent to each other.

[0008] It is also desired that recording areas of the R/W type, of theWO type and of the O-ROM type be co-existing in a single disk to expandthe application of the disks. In the past, optical disks of the P-ROMtype, in which the recording areas of the R/W type and the recordingareas of the O-ROM type are coexisting, were available. But, no othercombination of recording areas have been known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] An object of the invention is to provide an optical disk whichenables quick indexing of the physical location of the target sectorresponsive to a given address.

[0010] Another object of the invention is to provide an optical diskpermitting mixed presence of recording areas of different types.

[0011] A further object of the invention is to provide an optical diskdrive device used for such optical disks

[0012] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is providedan optical disk comprising a recording region, physical tracks in saidrecording region each corresponding to one revolution, said recordingregion being divided into a plurality of zones by one or more circularboundary lines centered on the center of the disk, each zone comprisinga plurality of physical tracks adjacent to each other, wherein aninteger number of sectors are provided in each physical track, theangular recording density is higher in the more outward zones such thatthe linear recording density is substantially constant throughout therecording region, and logical tracks are formed of a predeterminednumber of sectors, independent of the physical tracks.

[0013] With the above arrangement, each logical track is formed ofsectors, independent of the physical tracks, and the number of thesectors in each logical track is constant throughout the recordingregion, regardless of the radial position of the sector within therecording region, so that the conversion between the logical track andsector addresses read from the disk, at the sectors being accessed bythe read/write head, and the linear logical addresses (one-dimensionaladdresses, or addresses represented by consecutive integers) suppliedfrom a host device is easy, and the grouping and defect management areeasy

[0014] The addresses written in headers of the sectors on the logicaltrack in which data are actually recorded, including substitute sectorsused in place of defect sectors, are preferably consecutive to furtherfacilitate the conversion between the logical track and sector addressesread from the disk and the linear logical addresses supplied from thehost device.

[0015] The difference obtained by subtracting the number of the logicaltracks corresponding to each zone from the number of the logical trackscorresponding to another zone adjacent to and radially outside of saideach zone is preferably constant.

[0016] With this arrangement, the address management of the disk isfacilitated, and the number of the logical tracks in the zone inquestion can be determined through simple calculation on integers,without referring to a table for address conversion, and thedetermination of the target sector during seek operation can be madewith ease.

[0017] The number of the physical tracks of zones adjacent to each otherare preferably made equal by providing sectors in which data is notrecorded.

[0018] With this arrangement, the calculation for determining the numberof tracks to be traversed for accessing the target track is easy, andthe management of the physical location is easy.

[0019] Addresses of the sectors in the tracks in which data is notrecorded may be assigned independently of the addresses of the sectorsin the tracks in which data is recorded. Similarly, addresses of thesectors in the test track in each zone are assigned independently of theaddresses of the sectors in the tracks in which data is recorded. Withthis arrangement, management of the tracks in which data is not recordedand the test tracks is facilitated. The logical track and sectoraddresses are of consecutive values, so that the address management ofthe recorded data is facilitated. Access management of the test tracksis also facilitated.

[0020] The difference obtained by subtracting the number of sectors ineach zone in which data is not recorded from the number of sectors inanother zone adjacent to and outside of said each zone and in which datais not recorded is preferably constant.

[0021] With this arrangement, the number of the sectors in each zone inwhich data is not recorded can be determined through simple calculationon integers, without referring to a table, and the address management ofthe disk is easy.

[0022] Data may not be recorded in the outermost and innermost physicaltracks in each zone. This arrangement avoids crosstalk at the boundarybetween zones. That is, the header fields are not necessarily alignedradially between different zones, and the header fields and the datafields of tracks adjacent to each other and belonging to different zonesmay be adjacent to each other. However, by the above arrangement inwhich the outermost and innermost physical tracks are not used forrecording data, the tracks in which data is recorded is separated fromthe tracks of a different zone, by at least one track in the same zoneand in which data is not recorded, so that the crosstalk issubstantially eliminated. Degradation in the quality of data or disorderin tracking can therefore be prevented, and the more reliable datarecording is achieved.

[0023] At least one of said physical data in each zone may be a testtrack used for adjustment of recording power. With this arrangement, therecording power can be adjusted for each zone, and the reliability ofthe recording can be further improved.

[0024] Defect management may be effected for each zone. With thisarrangement, even where a defective track is found, it can besubstituted for by a track within the same zone, and it is not necessaryto switch the clock frequency while accessing the substitute track. As aresult, address management for controlling the hardware depending on theactual physical location (where the read/write head is accessing), e.g.,for switching the clock frequency, and defect management can be achievedin common, so that the address management is achieved with a high speed

[0025] Each logical track may be composed of 2^(n) sectors, with n beingan integer. With this arrangement, the addresses of the sectors arerepresented by consecutive integers, i.e., they are one-dimensional, sothat the calculation of the addresses of the sectors is easy.

[0026] An address of each sector may be written 2^(m) times, and an IDmay be added to the address at each occurrence to indicate the order ofthe occurrence. With this arrangement, the addresses each formed of thetrack address, the sector address and the ID, are linear, or arerepresented by consecutive integers. Accordingly, the formatter used forformatting such a disk can be formed of a counter. Moreover, the sectoraddresses can be determined by counting up 2^(m) times. Theconfiguration of the formatter is therefore simple.

[0027] An address for each sector may comprise a track address and asector address, or a track address, a sector address and an ID, whichare arranged in the stated order from the side of the MSB. The linearaddress is incremented by one with increase of the sector number. Theformatter is therefore formed of a simple up-counter.

[0028] A predetermined number of bits from the head of the address foreach sector represents a virtual logical track. Since the virtual trackaddress is always the predetermined number of bits, the compatibilitywith the convention optical disk drive devices is improved. Forinstance, according to the conventional optical disk standard, the PEPregion (phase encoding part where the physical properties of the disk orthe conditions under which the writing is to be performed are written)has a region for track addresses of only 16 bits. To be compatible withsuch a standard, 16 bits from the MSB are taken as the virtual trackaddress.

[0029] It may be so arranged that an attribute, which is either anattribute indicating a rewritable area, a write-once area or a read-onlyarea, can be independently set for each zone. It is then possible toplace different types of areas in a single disk, in variouscombinations, and disk which best suits to the intended applications canbe obtained.

[0030] A difference obtained by subtracting the number of parity tracksof each zone from the number of parity tracks of another zone adjacentto and outside of said each zone is preferably constant. Then, it ispossible to determine the number of the parity tracks in each zonewithout referring to a table.

[0031] Where a rewritable area and a write-once area are both providedin a single disk, it is preferable that a rewritable area is providedoutside of a write-once area. This improves the overall performance ofthe disk This is because the rewritable area is more frequently accessedthan the write-once area, and the data transfer is rate is higher in themore outward zones.

[0032] According to another aspect of the invention, there is providedan optical disk drive device for use in combination with an optical diskcomprising a recording region, physical tracks in said recording regioneach corresponding to one revolution, said recording region beingdivided into a plurality of zones by one or more circular boundary linescentered on the center of the disk, each zone comprising a plurality oftracks adjacent to each other, wherein an integer number of sectors areprovided in each physical track, the angular recording density is higherin the more outward zones such that the linear recording density issubstantially constant throughout the recording region, and logicaltracks are formed of a predetermined number of sectors, independent ofthe physical tracks, said optical disk drive device determining thelogical track address and the sector address responsive to a linearlogical address by determining the integral quotient and the remainderby dividing the linear logical by the number of the sectors per logicaltrack.

[0033] With the above arrangement, conversion from the linear logicaladdress supplied from the host device into the logical track and sectoraddresses can be achieved through simple calculation on integers andwithout referring to a table, so that the configuration of the drivedevice or the software for implementing the conversion may be simple.

[0034] According to another aspect of the invention, there is providedan optical disk drive device for use in combination with an optical diskcomprising a recording region, physical tracks in said recording region,each corresponding to one revolution, said recording region beingdivided into a plurality of zones by one or more circular boundary linescentered on the center of the disk, each zone comprising a plurality oftracks adjacent to each other, wherein an integer number of sectors areprovided in each physical track, the angular recording density is higherin the more outward zones such that the linear recording density issubstantially constant throughout the recording region, and logicaltracks are formed of a predetermined number of sectors, independent ofthe physical tracks, wherein a difference obtained by subtracting thenumber of the logical tracks corresponding to each zone from the numberof the logical tracks corresponding another zone adjacent to andradially outside of said each zone is of a constant value, said opticaldisk drive device determining the zone containing the target sector onthe basis of a product of said constant value and the number of thezones.

[0035] With the above arrangement, the zone can be determined throughsimple calculation on integers and without referring to a table, so thatthe configuration of the device or the software for implementing thedetermination of the zone may be simple

[0036] According to another aspect of the invention, there is providedan optical disk drive device for use in combination with an optical diskcomprising a recording region, physical tracks in said recording regioneach corresponding to one revolution, said recording region beingdivided into a plurality of zones by one or more circular boundary linescentered on the center of the disk, each zone comprising a plurality oftracks adjacent to each other, wherein an integer number of sectors areprovided in each physical track, the angular recording density is higherin the more outward zones such that the linear recording density issubstantially constant throughout the recording region, and logicaltracks are formed of a predetermined number of sectors, independent ofthe physical tracks, said optical disk further comprising a table forrecording attributes of the respective zones, said attributes indicatingwhether each zone is designated as a rewritable area, a write-once areaor a read-only area, said table being formed in at least one track or inat least one sector, said optical disk device comprising a means foraltering the attributes of the respective zones

[0037] With the above arrangement, it is possible to alter therewritable area to a write-once area Such function is desired where thedisk or part of the disk is used for storing data that should not bealtered without specific permission. It is also possible to alterwrite-once area to a rewritable area.

[0038] According to another aspect of the invention, there is providedan optical disk drive device for use in combination with an optical diskcomprising a recording region, physical tracks in said recording regioneach corresponding to one revolution, said recording region beingdivided into a plurality of zones by one or more circular boundary linescentered on the center of the disk, each zone comprising a plurality oftracks adjacent to each other, wherein an integer number of sectors areprovided in each physical track, the angular recording density is higherin the more outward zones such that the linear recording density issubstantially constant throughout the recording region, and logicaltracks are formed of a predetermined number of sectors, independent ofthe physical tracks, said optical disk comprising a first part of therecording region designated as a rewritable area and a second part ofthe recording region designated as a write-once area, said optical diskdevice comprising a means for permitting access of only said rewritablearea to a host device, and means for altering an attribute of saidsecond part from the write-once area to the rewritable area and copyingthe data in said first part to said second part while said host deviceis not accessing the optical disk.

[0039] With the above arrangement, the host device needs only toprovided a single command, e.g., a back-up command. Then, the drivedevice executes the back-up command by copying the data from one part ofthe disk to another. In the execution of the command, the attributes ofthe zones may be altered before and after copying the data. Moreover,the back-up is achieved within a single disk, so that it is notnecessary to back-up the data using another disk.

[0040] The optical disk drive device may further comprise means forcopying the data in the second part to said first part while said hostdevice is not accessing the optical disk. The host device needs only toprovide a single command. e.g., a restore command. Then, the drivedevice executes the restore command by copying back the data from awrite once area to a rewritable area.

[0041] The optical disk may have recording regions on first and secondsurfaces opposite to each other. In such a case, it may be desired ifthe rewritable area is formed on one of the surfaces and the write-oncearea is formed on the other surface. Then, even when the data on one ofthe surfaces is destroyed, identical data can be read from the othersurface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042]FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an opticaldisk according to the invention.

[0043]FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure of the optical disk ofFIG. 1.

[0044]FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing, partially in section, guidegrooves and land parts.

[0045]FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the tracks near the boundary of zones.

[0046]FIG. 5 is a table showing the format of the disk of Embodiment 1.

[0047]FIG. 6 is a partial plan view showing the placement of the guardand test tracks.

[0048]FIG. 7 is a table showing the format of the disk of Embodiment 2.

[0049]FIG. 8 is a table showing the format of the disk of Embodiment 3.

[0050]FIG. 9 is a table showing an example of the format of the disk ofEmbodiment 3.

[0051]FIG. 10 is a table showing another example the format of the diskof Embodiment 4.

[0052]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the format of the header field inEmbodiment 5

[0053]FIG. 12 is a table showing the format of the disk of Embodiment 5.

[0054]FIG. 13 is a table showing the format of the disk of Embodiment 6.

[0055]FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the format of the header field inEmbodiment 6.

[0056]FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the optical disk drive device and thehost device.

[0057]FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the operation ofthe drive device during access of a target sector in the optical disk.

[0058]FIG. 17 is a functional block diagram showing the optical diskdrive device having a function of power adjustment.

[0059]FIG. 18 is a flow chart showing the procedure for the poweradjustment.

[0060]FIG. 19 is a table showing the format of the disk of Embodiment 9.

[0061]FIG. 20 is a table showing part of the disk structure managementtable.

[0062]FIG. 21 is a diagram showing allocation of the parts of the diskto the respective types of recording regions according to Embodiment 9.

[0063]FIG. 22 is a diagram showing allocation of the parts of the diskto the respective types of recording regions according to Embodiment 10.

[0064]FIG. 23 is a diagram showing allocation of the parts of the diskto the respective types of recording regions according to Embodiment 11.

[0065]FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the optical disk drive device, andits function of altering the attributes of the zones for producing adisk equivalent to a P-ROM disk.

[0066]FIG. 25 is a diagram showing the optical disk drive device, andits function of altering the attributes of some only of the rewritablezones to “write-once”.

[0067]FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the optical disk drive device, andits function of altering the attributes of the zones during execution ofa back-up command.

[0068]FIG. 27 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the operation ofthe optical disk drive device for executing the back-up command.

[0069]FIG. 28 is a diagram showing the optical disk drive device, andits function of altering the attributes of the zones on one surface ofthe disk during execution of a back-up command.

[0070]FIG. 29 is a diagram showing the optical disk drive device, andits function for restoring data from the write-once area to therewritable area.

[0071]FIG. 30 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the operation ofthe optical disk drive device for executing the restore command.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0072] Embodiment 1

[0073] A first embodiment, Embodiment 1, will now be described withreference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIGS. 1 and 2 show the structure of anoptical disk of Embodiment 1. A spiral guide groove is formed on anoptical disk 2. A light spot 3 is formed by focusing a light beam from alight source, not shown, onto a land part 12 between adjacent parts ofthe guide groove. Each header field 4 comprises a sector address field 5and a track address field 6. The header fields 4 are in the form of pitsin the land parts 12 formed by embossment or stamping when the disk isfabricated. That is, the header fields 4 are preformatted. The datafields 7 are written magneto-optically. The information in the form ofpits in the header fields 4 and the information magneto-opticallyrecorded in the data fields 7 are read by means of the same light beam.Each sector 8 comprises a header field 4 and a data field 7.

[0074] Each of the physical tracks 9 corresponds to one revolution ofthe optical disk 2. Each physical track 9 is composed of an integernumber of sectors. A plurality of physical tracks adjacent to each otherform a zone 10 a, 10 b or 10 c. That is, the recording region (userzone) within the recording surface of the optical disk 2 is divided intoa plurality of zones by concentric boundary circular lines centered onthe center of the disk. Each of the physical tracks in the recordingregion belongs to one of the zones. In the illustrated example, therecording region is divided into 31 zones (from zone No. 0 to zone No.30). The outermost zone No. 0 and the innermost zone No. 30 eachcomprise 741 physical tracks, while other zones each comprise 740physical tracks. The outermost zone No. 0 has the greatest number ofsectors, and the more inward zones have a smaller number of sectors. Thedifference of the number of sectors between the adjacent zones is atleast “one”, and is “one” in the illustrated example.

[0075] In use, the disk is rotated at a constant angular velocityregardless of which of the zones the read/write head is accessing.

[0076] The frequency of the clocks used for recording data in therespective zone is varied or switched so that it is higher in the moreoutward zones, so that the linear recording density is substantiallyconstant throughout the recording region (user zone) of the disk.

[0077] During reading, the frequency of the clocks is also switched whenthe read/write head is moved from one zone to another zone

[0078] The innermost tracks 11 b and the outermost track 11 c in thezones 10 b and 10 c have their header field 4-1 and data field 7-2adjacent to each other, and have their header fields 4-2 and data field7-1 adjacent to each other.

[0079] The logical track structure shown in FIG. 5 is arranged in thephysical structure described above. FIG. 5 shows an example in whicheach sector consists of 1024 bytes. Each logical track is composed of 17sectors. The marks at the top parts of the respective columns in thetable of FIG. 5 have the following meanings:

[0080] ZN: zone number

[0081] S/R: the number of sectors per revolution (physical track)

[0082] PT/Z: the number of physical tracks in the zone

[0083] S/Z: the number of sectors in the zone=S/R×PT/Z

[0084] Σ S/Z: the sum of the numbers of the sectors of the zones (fromthe first zone to the zone in question)

[0085] LT/G: the number of logical tracks in the revolution group

[0086] Δ LT/G: the difference in the number of logical tracks

[0087] (LT/G) between the revolution group and the revolution groupadjacent to and inside of the first-mentioned revolution group

[0088] S/G: the number of sectors in the revolution group

[0089] Σ S/G: the sum of the numbers of sectors in the revolution groups(from the first revolution group to the revolution group in question)

[0090] DΣ S: the difference between the sum of the numbers of thesectors of the zones and the sum of the number of sectors of therevolution groups=Σ S/G−Σ S/Z

[0091] Each revolution group comprises a plurality of sectors. Eachrevolution group corresponds to each zone. The numbers of logical tracksof the respective revolution groups are determined such that the sectorsbelonging to the respective revolution groups are substantially equal tothe number of the sectors in the corresponding zone. As a result, thestarting point and the end point of each revolution group do notnecessarily coincide with the starting point and the end point of thecorresponding zone, and there may be some offset between them. Thedeferences (DΣ S) in the rightmost column in FIG. 5 indicate suchoffsets, that is, the numbers of sectors which are not in thecorresponding zone, but in the next zone. The sectors (12 sectors in theillustrated example) which belong to the last revolution zone, but arenot accommodated in the last zone are formed in a spare region, formedinside of the innermost zone.

[0092] The disk with the logical tracks formed as described above, thetrack address and the sector address written in the header field of eachsector corresponds to the linear logical address supplied from a hostdevice The term “linear” with respect to the address means that theaddresses are represented by values which are consecutive integersAccordingly, the sector address and the track address are determinedthrough simple calculation on integers. Although the number of sectorsper revolution differs from one zone to another, this need not be takenaccount in the above calculation.

[0093] Moreover, the physical location of the sector on the disk can bedetermined from the logical track address and the sector address throughsimple calculation.

[0094] Embodiment 2

[0095] Another embodiment, Embodiment 2, will next be described withreference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 illustrates a part of the opticaldisk of Embodiment 2, and FIG. 7 is a table showing a physical trackstructure of the optical disk of Embodiment 2. As illustrated in FIG. 6,in the vicinity of the boundary of adjacent zones, at least one physicaltrack 14, 15 of each of the adjacent zones are designated as guardtracks, which the user cannot use for recording data. In addition, atleast one physical track 16 in each zone is designated as a test track,which the user cannot use for recording data. In the illustratedexample, the innermost physical track in each zone is designated as aguard track 14, an outermost physical track is designated as the testtrack 16, and the physical track next to the outermost guard track 16 isdesignated as another guard track 15.

[0096] The guard tracks 14 and 15 are for avoiding crosstalk near theboundary between the adjacent zones. The guard tracks are assignedaddresses independent of the addresses of the data recording sectors,and the addresses of the guard tracks are beyond the range of theaddresses assigned to the sectors for recording data. This will ensurethat the guard tracks are not accessed during recording or reading data,and the guard tracks are therefore not used for recording data.

[0097] The test track 16 is used for adjustment of the recording power.For instance, when the drive device is turned on, test data is recordedon the test track, with a given recording power, and is then reproduced,and the error occurrence rate is determined. The recording power is thenvaried in accordance with the determined error rate, and the recordingis again made with the varied recording power. The above process isrepeated until the error rate becomes sufficiently low. The recordingpower is thereby optimized.

[0098] Designating the physical track between the guard tracks 14 and 15in the vicinity of each boundary between zones as the test track 16 isadvantageous because, with such an arrangement, even when an excessivepower is used for recording in the test track this does not affect thetracks used for recording. However, any other track may alternatively bedesigned as the test track, as mentioned above.

[0099] The test tracks 16 are assigned addresses independent of theaddresses of the data recording sectors, and the addresses of the testtracks are beyond the range of the addresses assigned to the sectors forrecording data. This will ensure that the guard tracks are not accessedduring recording or reading data, and the guard tracks are therefore notused for recording data.

[0100] The tracks other than the guard tracks and the test track areused for recording data, and each logical track is formed of 17 sectors.The numbers of the logical tracks in the respective revolution groupsare determined so that the difference in the number of the logicaltracks between the adjacent revolution groups is a constant value, whichin the illustrated example is “43”. With such an arrangement, the numberof the logical tracks can be determined through simple calculation onintegers, and management using a table or the like is unnecessary.

[0101]FIG. 7 shows the logical track structure of Embodiment 2. It issimilar to that of FIG. 5. However, the number of the physical tracks ineach of the zones No. 0 and No. 30 is 740, which is the same as thenumber of logical tracks in each of the other zones

[0102] In FIG. 7, the marks which are at the top parts of the respectivecolumns and which are identical to those in FIG. 5 have the samemeanings as those in FIG. 5. “G+T” in FIG. 7 denote the number ofsectors in the guard tracks and the test track in the zone.

[0103] Embodiment 2 has an advantage over Embodiment 1 with regard tothe following points: First, in Embodiment 1, the end point of the lastlogical track in each revolution group does not coincide with the endpoint of the zone, and some sectors are in the next zone, and the numberof such sectors in the next zone is not constant. In such a case, theswitching of the clocks must be controlled in the logical track. It istherefore necessary to perform management over substitution (foraccessing the spare sectors in place of defect sectors), and themanagement over control related to the actual physical arrangement(e.g., the switching of the clocks). Secondly, crosstalks betweenadjacent tracks may occur near the zone boundaries. Thirdly, adjustmentof power using a test track cannot be made. Furthermore, there is norule or regularity on the number of logical tracks in the respectiverevolution groups, so that it is necessary to provide a table storingthe number of logical tracks in each revolution group, and this tableneeds to be referred to for the conversion from the logical address tothe physical address.

[0104] The logical track structure shown in FIG. 7 solves the problemdiscussed above. The logical tracks of each revolution are allaccommodated in the corresponding zone. Moreover, by the provision ofthe guard tracks, the crosstalks at the zone boundary is eliminated.Furthermore, the recording power can be adjusted using the test track.In addition, since the difference in the number of logical tracksbetween adjacent revolution groups is constant, conversion from thelogical address to the physical address can be achieved by simplecalculation, and does not require a table.

[0105] Embodiment 3

[0106] Another embodiment, Embodiment 3, will next be described withreference to FIG. 8. It is similar to Embodiment 2, but differs from itin the following respects:

[0107] With the format of the logical track of Embodiment 2, the numberof sectors remaining in each revolution group after assigning therequired number of tracks for data recording differs from one track toanother. As a result, it is necessary to record the number of theremaining sectors in a table and refer to it in determining the physicallocation.

[0108]FIG. 8 shows the logical track structure for solving the aboveproblem The marks which are at the top parts of the respective columnsand which are identical to those in FIG. 5 or 7 have the same meaningsas those in FIG. 5 or 7. “DUM” denotes the number of sectors remainingafter assigning the logical tracks, “Δ DUM” denotes the difference inDUM between adjacent zones, and “RES” denotes the sum of DUM and G+T.

[0109] As seen from FIG. 8, the difference in the number of the logicaltracks, LT/G, between adjacent revolution groups is of a constantnumber, e.g., 43, and the three physical tracks are reserved for theguard tracks and the test track, and the number of the remainingsectors, DUM, is of a constant number, e.g., “6” in the illustratedexample. Accordingly, the physical location of the sector can bedetermined through calculation using a formula in which the number ofthe remaining sectors, DUM, is incorporated, and it is not necessary toprovide a table storing the number of remaining sectors of therespective revolution groups, which were necessary when the number ofthe remaining sectors differ from one revolution group to another.

[0110] Embodiment 4

[0111] Another embodiment, Embodiment 4, will next be described withreference to FIGS. 9 and 10. This embodiment is identical to Embodiment2, except that the number of the physical tracks per revolution groupand the number of the revolution groups within the recording region ofthe disk differ from those of Embodiment 2.

[0112] The format of the logical tracks of Embodiment 3 solved theproblems of Embodiments 1 and 2, and the number of the remaining sectorsis a positive number, so that the logical tracks do not bridge adjacentzones. Moreover, the physical location of a target sector can bedetermined through calculation on integers, without referring to atable. However, the remaining sectors in which no data is recordedexist. The capacity of the disk is not fully utilized.

[0113]FIGS. 9 and 10 shows logical track structures for solving theabove problems of Embodiment 3. FIG. 9 shows a case in which each sectorconsists of 1024 bytes, while FIG. 10 shows a case in which each sectorconsists of 512 bytes. In each of FIGS. 9 and 10, the total number ofsectors in each revolution group corresponds to an integer number oflogical tracks, and the difference in the number of logical tracksbetween adjacent revolution groups is a constant number, which is “176”in FIG. 9, or “54” in FIG. 10.

[0114] In the illustrated examples, no guard and test tracks areprovided. However, they may be provided in the same way as in Embodiment3.

[0115] Embodiment 5

[0116] Another embodiment, Embodiment 5, will be described withreference to FIGS. 11 and 12. In this embodiment, each sector consistsof 1024 bytes The structure of the disk is identical to that shown inFIGS. 1 to 3, but the header field of each sector differs from that ofFIG. 1. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, it has two header sections 4 a and4 b. Each of the header sections 4 a and 4 b comprises a track addressfield 6, a sector address field 5 and an ID field 21. Identicaladdresses are recorded in the track address fields 6 and the sectoraddress fields 5 in the two header sections 4 a and 4 b. The addressesindicate the sector of which the header sections 4 a and 4 b form apart. The identical addresses are written in duplicate in order toimprove the reliability. A binary “0” is written in the ID field 21 inthe first header section 4 a, and a binary “1” is written in the IDfield 21 in the second header section 4 b. The ID field 21 in eachheader section 4 a or 4 b thereby identifies the header section, i.e.,whether it is the first header section or the second header section ineach sector.

[0117]FIG. 12 shows the logical track structure. The marks which are atthe top parts of the respective columns and which are identical to thosein FIGS. 5, 7 or 8 have the same meanings as those in FIGS. 5, 7 and 8.“S/LT” denotes the number of sectors per logical track. The arrangementof the tracks as shown is generally identical to that of FIG. 5 butdiffers from that of FIG. 5 in the following respects First, the numberof zones is not 31 as in FIG. 3, but is 30. Each zone has 752 physicaltracks. Each logical track has 2^(n) sectors. In the illustrated examplen=4 so that 2^(n)=2⁴=16 sectors.

[0118] As illustrated in FIG. 11, the track address field 6 is formed of16 bits, and is used to represent an address value of from “0” to“22560”, and the sector address field 5 is formed of 4 bits and is usedto represent an address value of from “0” to “15”.

[0119] As has been described, since the track address is represented by2^(n) or 16 bits, calculation of the track address is easy.

[0120] Embodiment 6

[0121] Another embodiment, Embodiment 6, will next be descried withreference to FIGS. 13 and 14. Each sector consists of 1024 bytes, likeEmbodiment 5. As illustrated in FIG. 13, each of the zones Nos. 0 to 29comprises 768 physical tracks 10, and each logical track consists of 128sectors. Addresses are written in duplicate. FIG. 14 shows headersections 4 a and 4 b. The track address 6 is composed of 16 bits and isused to represent a value of from “0” to “23040” The sector address 5 iscomposed of 7 bits and is used to represent a value of from “0” to “127”The ID field is composed of a single bit and is used to represent “0” or“1”

[0122] With the arrangement of the logical tracks described above, thetrack address and sector address read from the disk correspond directly(as is) to the linear logical address from a host device, and the actualtrack and sector addresses can be determined through simple calculationon integers. Moreover, any difference in the number of sectors perrevolution need not be taken account of.

[0123] Embodiment 7

[0124] Another embodiment, Embodiment 7, will next be described withreference to FIGS. 15 and 16. This embodiment relates to an optical diskdrive device, and in particular to its operation for accessing thetarget sector on an optical disk having been loaded onto the drivedevice. FIG. 15 shows an optical disk drive device 31 used for writingin and reading from optical disks, and a host device 32 connected to theoptical disk drive device 31. The optical disk 2 is actually loaded inthe optical disk device 31 but is shown to be placed outside the device31 for the sake of convenience of illustration. The host device 32provides commands for writing on or reading from the optical disk 2,together with the designation of the address on or from which thewriting or reading is to be conducted. The address is a linear address.

[0125] Upon receipt of such a command, the drive device 31 performs theoperation for seeking the track in which the sector corresponding to thedesignated address is located. The operation for writing and reading isknown, and its description is omitted.

[0126]FIG. 16 shows the seek operation. The drive device 31 first readsthe logical track address of the currently-accessed track, i.e., thelogical track which the read/write head of the optical disk drive deviceis now confronting or accessing (102). Then, on the basis of the tracknumber having been read, the zone to which the currently-accessedlogical track belongs, is identified, that is the zone number isdetermined (104). Then, the physical location of the logical track ofwhich the address has been read is determined (106). Then, the linearlogical address from the host device 32 is converted into the logicaltrack address (108). Then, the zone number of the zone to which thetarget logical track belongs is determined (110). Then, the physicallocation of the target sector is determined (112). Then, the number ofphysical tracks which lie between and the currently-accessed track andthe target position, i.e., which have to be traversed for the seekoperation, is determined, taking into consideration the zone number(114). Then, the head is moved for traversing the number of physicaltracks, that is determined to lie between the currently-accessed trackand the target position (116). The above operation is repeated until thetarget track is reached (118).

[0127] When the head arrives at the target track, the addresses in therespective sectors are read, to find out the target sector.

[0128] Using the optical disks of the above embodiments exhibitadvantages in the above-described seek operation. For instance, if adisk of any of Embodiments 1, 2 an 3 is used, the conversion at the step108 is accomplished by simple calculation: That is, the logical trackaddress At and the logical sector address As are given as the integralquotient and the remainder of the division:

A_(L)/(S/LT)

[0129] wherein S/LT is the number of sectors per logical track, andA_(L) is the linear logical address from the host device. Accordingly,the table for the conversion of the address is not necessary and theconfiguration of the drive device simplified.

[0130] An additional advantage obtained if a disk of Embodiment 2 isused is that the determination of the zone number at the step 104 and atthe step 110 is made using the following relationship

ZN×{LT/G _(ZN=0)+(LT/G _(ZN=0) −ΔLT/G×ZN)}/2=17×At+(the number ofremaining sectors as stored in the table)

[0131] where LT/G_(ZN=0) is the number of the logical tracks in the zoneNo. 0. The table needs only to store the number of the remainingsectors, which are relatively small figures. Therefore, the requiredsize of the table is small, and the configuration of the device or thesoftware for implementing the seek operation is simplified.

[0132] An additional advantage obtained if a disk of Embodiment 3 isused is that the determination of the zone number at the step 104 and atthe step 110 is made using the following relationship:

ZN×{LT/G _(ZN=0)+(LT/G _(ZN=0) −ΔLT/G×ZN)}/2=17×At

[0133] Thus, the correction using the number of remaining sectors asstored in the table is not required. It is therefore not necessary toprovide such a table for the determination of the zone number at thestep 104 or 110.

[0134] Embodiment 8

[0135] Another embodiment, Embodiment 8, will next be described withreference to FIGS. 17 and 18. This embodiment relates to an optical diskdrive device, and in particular to its operation for adjusting the powerof the laser beam used for writing. Such adjustment is conducted priorto the actual writing, e.g., when the drive device is turned on. FIG. 17is a block diagram showing the function of the drive device. Asillustrated, the drive device 31, which may be connected to a hostdevice as shown in FIG. 15, comprises a controller 33 provided with aCPU, a ROM and a RAM, a recording circuit 34, a laser controller 35, aread/write head 36 with a built-in semiconductor laser, a reproducingcircuit 37, and an evaluation circuit 38. The controller 33 isresponsive to commands from the host device 32 for sending controlsignals to various parts of the device 31 to conduct the writing poweradjustment. It outputs a designation of the initial value of the writingpower. The recording circuit 34 conducts recording of test dataresponsive to the control signals from the controller 33. That is, itprovides the test data used for the recording for the purpose of poweradjustment. The laser controller 35 modulates the test data suppliedfrom the recording circuit 34 and supplies the modulated test data tothe read/write head 36 It sets the laser power to the initial valuedesignated by the controller 33 The read/write head 36 records the testdata on the disk 2 with the power that is set by the laser controller35. The read/write head 36 also reads the test data having beenrecorded. The reproducing circuit 37 demodulates the test data read bythe read/write head 36. The evaluation circuit 38 evaluates the fidelityof the reproduced data with respect to the test data output from therecording circuit 34. That is, it determines the error rate in thereproduced data, and evaluates the quality of reproduced data. On thebasis of the evaluation, the controller 33 varies the set value of thewriting power. The above described steps are repeated to obtain theoptimum writing power.

[0136]FIG. 18 shows the above-described procedure for determining theoptimum writing power. First an initial value of the writing power isset (202), and the writing is conducted with the initial value (204).Then, the test data having been written is reproduced (206). Then, thequality of the reproduced data is evaluated (208). If the quality isfound satisfactory, the process is terminated. If not, judgement is madewhether the power is too large or too small (210). If the power is foundtoo large, the set value of the power is lowered (212). If the power isfound too small, the set value is raised (214). Then, the process isreturned to the step 204. The above-described steps are repeated untilthe quality of the reproduced data is found satisfactory.

[0137] Embodiment 9

[0138] Another embodiment, Embodiment 9, will next be described withreference to FIG. 19. The structure of the disk of this embodiment isgenerally identical to that of Embodiment 1. However, as will bedetailed below, the attributes of the zones can be set independently ofeach other. The term “attribute” as used herein refer to an indicationor designation the type of the recording area, i.e., it indicateswhether the area in question is of a read/write type, a write-once typeor a read-only type.

[0139]FIG. 19 shows the logical track structure of the disk of thisembodiment. Each sector consists of 1024 bytes and each logical trackconsists of 17 sectors. The marks which are at the top parts of therespective columns and which are identical to those in FIGS. 5, 7, 8 and12 have the same meanings as those in FIGS. 5, 7, 8 and 12. “FLT”denotes the address of the first logical track in the zone. “LT” denotesthe numbers of the logical tracks for recording data, space tracks orparity tracks in the zone. “TEST” denotes the numbers of the test tracksin the zone “PAR” denotes the numbers of the parity tracks in the zoneThe parity tracks are used to record parity symbols when the zone isdesignated as the O-ROM type.

[0140] As shown in FIG. 19, the recording region is divided into 30zones, zone Nos. 0 to 29. Each zone consists of 748 physical tracks. Thenumber of the logical tracks in each zone can be determined by dividingthe number of sectors in the zone by 17. The number of the parity tracksvaries from 144 to 86 with the increase of the zone number from 0 to 29,the difference between the adjacent zones being two. To determine thenumber of the parity tracks for each zone, it is only necessary todecrement by two. Such determination can be made by simple calculationon integers, and no table need be referred to for this calculation.

[0141]FIG. 20 shows part of the disk structure management table of thedisk of Embodiment 9, in which each sector comprises 1024 bytes. Thedisk structure management table is provided at the head of the defectmanagement region (at the head of the user zone, or at the first sectorin the first (No. 0) zone.

[0142] The 0-th to 21st bytes in the table are for information relatingto defect management, and are not directly relevant to the invention, sothat their illustration and description are omitted. The 22nd to 51stbytes are for identifying the type of each of the zones Nos. 0 to 29 The“type ” as meant here is either the R/W (read/write or rewritable) type,the WO (write once) type or the O-ROM (fully embossed or read only)type, as described above. The value “01” in the row of each byteindicates that the corresponding zone is of the R/W type. “02” in therow of each byte indicates that the corresponding zone is of the O-ROMtype, and “03” in the row of each byte indicates that the correspondingzone is of the WO type. “/” between “01”, “02” and “03” signifies “or”.

[0143] When the disk is of the R/W type, the 22nd to 51st bytes are allset to “01”. When the disk is of the WO type, the 22nd to 51st bytes areall set to “03”. When the disk is of the O-ROM type, the 22nd to 51stbytes are all set to “02”. When the disk is of the P-ROM type (i.e., thedisk comprises one or more zones of the R/W type and one or more zonesof the O-ROM type), the bytes corresponding to the R/W type zones areset to “01”, while the bytes corresponding to the O-ROM type zones areset to “02”.

[0144] When the disk is of the R/W+WO type (i.e., the disk comprises oneor more zones of the R/W type and one or more zones of the WO type), thebytes corresponding to the R/W type zones are set to “01”, while thebytes corresponding to the WO type zones are set to “03”.

[0145] When the disk is of the WO+O-ROM type (i.e., the disk comprisesone or more zones of the WO type and one or more zones of the O-ROMtype), the bytes corresponding to the WO type zones are set to “03”,while the bytes corresponding to the O-ROM type zones are set to “02”.

[0146] When the disk is of the R/W+WO+O-ROM type (i.e., the diskcomprises one or more zones of the R/W type, one or more zones of the WOtype, and one or more zones of O-ROM type), the bytes corresponding tothe R/W type zones are set to “01”, the bytes corresponding to the WOtype zones are set to “03, and the bytes corresponding to the O-ROM typeare set to “02”.

[0147] Each zone can be set to any type independently of other zones.

[0148] In the past, only four types of disks, i.e., the R/W type, the WOtype, the O-ROM type and the P-ROM type, were available. According tothe above embodiment, three additional types, i.e., the R/W+WO type, theWO+O-ROM type, and the R/W+WO+O-ROM type are available. In all, seventypes are thus available.

[0149] Moreover, in the prior art P-ROM type disk, the disk is dividedinto two parts by a circular boundary line, and the zone or zonesoutside of the boundary line is of one of the R/W type and the W/O type,and the zone or zones inside of the boundary line is of the other of theR/W type or the O-ROM type. In contrast, according to this embodiment,each of the zones can be set to any type freely.

[0150] Embodiment 10

[0151] Another embodiment, Embodiment 10, will next be described withreference to FIG. 21. As described earlier, the disk is rotated at aconstant angular velocity in use, and the frequency of the clocks usedfor recording and reading is switched depending on the zone in which theread/write head is accessing. Where the disk contains the R/W type zoneor zones, the WO type zone or zones, and the O-ROM type zone or zones,the R/W zone or zones are placed in the outermost part of the disk, theO-ROM type zone or zones are placed in the innermost part of the diskand the WO type zone or zones are placed in the intermediate part of thedisk, as illustrated in FIG. 21. The reason is that the data transferrate is higher in the more outward zones, so that the more outward zonesare assigned for the type of the recording zones which are morefrequently accessed. In the above described situation, the R/W type ismost frequency accessed because three types of operations. i.e.,reading, writing and erasing operations are performed, so that theoutermost part of the disk is allocated to the R/W type zones. The WOtype zone or zones are accessed more frequently than the O-ROM typebecause the former additionally permits the writing operation, althoughonly once. The W/O type zones are therefore placed more outward than theO-ROM type zones

[0152] Embodiment 11

[0153] Another embodiment, Embodiment 11, will next be described withreference to FIG. 22. The disk is basically of the same structure asthat of the Embodiment 10, but it only contains the R/W type zone orzones and the WO type zone or zones. The R/W type zone or zones areplaced more outward than the W/O type zone or zones, because R/W zonesare more frequently accessed.

[0154] Embodiment 12

[0155] Another embodiment, Embodiment 12, will next be described withreference to FIG. 23. The disk is basically of the same structure asthat of the Embodiment 10, but it only contains the WO type zone orzones and the O-ROM type zone or zones. The WO type zone or zones areplaced more outward than the O-ROM type zone or zones, because theformer permits writing operation, although only once.

[0156] Embodiment 13

[0157] Another embodiment, Embodiment 13, will next be described withreference to FIG. 24. This embodiment relates to an optical disk drivedevice 31 which alters the attributes of the zones in the mannerdescribed below. The drive device 31 is connected to a host device 31 byan interface such as SCSI The optical disk 2 is loaded in the drivedevice 31, but is shown to be placed outside the drive device 31 forconvenience of illustration.

[0158] In this embodiment, the recording region is entirely of the R/Wtype when fabricated. However, the area denoted as “vacant” is initiallyinaccessible. The drive device 31 has the function of altering theattributes of the zones written in the management table. This functionis performed by executing a command A. When the drive device 31 receivesthe command A from the host device 32, the attributes of the zonesdesignated by the command A are altered to “WO”. At the same time, thezones which have been inaccessible are altered to accessible R/W zones(as indicated by B). The zones having been altered to WO type permitswriting of data once, and after that the data cannot be altered. That isthis part is now like ROM type part. The R/W part, which have beenaltered from inaccessible part, now permits writing and reading. Thus, adisk having the same function as P-ROM is obtained.

[0159] The alteration of the attributes can be made by the user, and theattributes having been altered to WO may be returned to R/W.

[0160] An advantage of the disk of the embodiment is lower cost in someapplications. P-ROM disks with their ROM part formed by embossment isexpensive where the number of the disk produced at the same time islimited because of the relatively high cost of fabricating the originaldisk. In contrast, the disks formed in the above manner are lessexpensive and yet have the same function as P-ROM disks having embossedpart.

[0161] Embodiment 14

[0162] Another embodiment, Embodiment 14, will next be described withreference to FIG. 25. This embodiment also relates to an optical diskdrive device 31 capable of altering the attributes of the zones. InEmbodiment 13, the accessible R/W zones are all changed to WO zones. InEmbodiment 14, the attributes of only such zones which are designated bya command C are altered, e.g., to WO (as indicated by D). Suchalteration is desired for instance to prevent alteration of data only incertain zones.

[0163] Embodiment 15

[0164] Another embodiment, Embodiment 15, will next be described withreference to FIG. 26. This embodiment also relates to an optical diskdrive device capable of altering the attributes of the zones andexecuting a back-up command. Description of the parts identical to thosein FIG. 24 is omitted. The attributes of the zones are written in themanagement table 41 As illustrated in FIG. 26, alternate zones aredesignated as R/W zones and intervening zones are designated as WOzones. The total capacity of the WO zones is about the same as the totalcapacity of the R/W zones.

[0165] A procedure for control for executing a back-up command is shownin FIG. 27. First, when the drive device 31 receives the command from ahost device (302), it determines whether it is an inquiry on capacity, aread/write command, or a back-up command (304). If it is the inquiry,the an answer indicating the capacity of the R/W area is sent to thehost device (306). If it is the read/write command (308), judgement isthen made whether the read/write head is accessing an R/W area (310).and if the answer is affirmative, the command is executed (312). If itis the back-up command (314), a message indicating that the execution ofthe command is completed is sent to the host device (316), and the datain the R/W area is copied into the WO area (320), when it is found thatthe host device is not accessing. If necessary, the attributes of thezones are altered to “R/W” (318) prior to the copying, and returned to“WO” (322) after the copying. In FIG. 26, the back-up command isindicated by E, and the alteration of the attributes in the table isindicated by F and H, and the copying of the data is indicated by G.

[0166] Embodiment 16

[0167] Another embodiment, Embodiment 16, will be described. Thisembodiment also relates to an optical disk drive device capable ofaltering the attributes of the zones. The embodiment is similar toEmbodiment 15. The optical disk 2 permits recording on both sides orsurfaces. The drive device 31 has the function of reading from andwriting on both surfaces of the disk without turning the disk 2 upsidedown. A first surface is entirely an R/W area, while a second surface isentirely a WO area. By the same procedure shown in FIG. 27, the back-upcommand is executed. That is, responsive to a back-up command (I), theattributes of the second surface is altered to R/W (J), the data on thefirst surface is copied to the second surface (K), and the attributes ofthe second surface is returned to (L). Because the second surface isreturned to WO after the copying, the data having been copied into thesecond surface is not destroyed by a device which does not have thefunction of altering the attribute.

[0168] Embodiment 17

[0169] Another embodiment, Embodiment 17, will next be described withreference to FIGS. 29 and 30. This embodiment also relates to an opticaldisk drive device 31 capable of altering the attributes of the zones.Description of the parts identical to those in FIGS. 26 and 28 isomitted. When the drive device 31 receives a restore command (M) fromthe host device 32 (402). It sends a message back to the host device 32indicating the execution of the restore command is completed (404), andcopies the data in the WO area to the R/W area (406).

[0170] The invention has been described with reference to theillustrated embodiments. However, various modifications are possiblewithout departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An optical disk comprising: a recording regionhaving a plurality of sectors; wherein said plurality of sectors areassigned sequentially numbered addresses using binary digits, and alogical track, as a unit for an access operation, is formed by no moreand no less than 2^(n) sectors, where n is an integer greater than
 1. 2.An optical disk according to claim 1, wherein the address of each ofsaid plurality of sectors includes a logical track address and a sectoraddress, the logical track address being positioned before or after thesector address.
 3. An optical disk according to claim 2, wherein apredetermined number of bits from a beginning of the address for eachsector represents the logical track address.
 4. An optical diskaccording to claim 2, wherein a predetermined number of bits from an endof the address for each sector represents an order of the sector in thelogical track.
 5. An optical disk according to claim 1, wherein each ofthe sectors includes 2^(m) sector address fields in which a sectoraddress is written, where m is an integer.
 6. An optical disk accordingto claim 1, wherein said recording region comprises plural types ofzones, including at least two of the following zone types: a rewritabletype, a write-once type, and a read-only type, and each zone of saidrecording region comprises logical tracks.
 7. An optical disk accordingto claim 1, wherein said recording region comprises plural zones thateach have an attribute associated therewith, and the attributeassociated with each zone indicates whether or not rewriting is enabledand is defined in a structure management table provided in apredetermined part on the disk.
 8. An optical disk according to claim 7,wherein said structure management table is rewritable.
 9. An opticaldisk drive for use with an optical disk that includes a recording regionhaving a plurality of sectors; wherein the plurality of sectors in therecording region are assigned sequentially numbered addresses usingbinary digits and a logical track, as a unit for an access operation, isformed by no more and no less than 2^(n) sectors, where n is an integergreater than 1; and the optical disk drive device determines a logicaltrack address for sectors by extracting a predetermined number of bitsfrom a beginning of the address associated with each sector.
 10. Anoptical disk drive device for use with an optical disk that includes arecording region having a plurality of sectors; wherein the plurality ofsectors are assigned sequentially numbered addresses using binary digitsand a logical track, as a unit for an access operation, is formed by nomore and no less than 2^(n) sectors, where n is an integer; and theoptical disk drive device determines an order of sectors in a logicaltrack by extracting a predetermined number of bits from an end of theaddress associated with each sector.
 11. An optical disk drive devicefor use with an optical disk according to claim 6, wherein the opticaldisk drive device determines the logical track address for sectors byextracting a predetermined number of bits from a beginning of theaddress associated with each sector, and/or the optical disk drivedevice determines an order of sectors in a logical track by extracting apredetermined number of bits from an end of the address associated witheach sector; and the optical disk drive device recognizes whether a zoneis a rewritable type, a write-once type, or a read-only type based onthe extracted logical track address.
 12. An optical disk drive devicefor use with an optical disk according to claim 7, comprising: means forreproducing data from said optical disk; and means for detecting theattribute for the zone from the structure management table.
 13. Anoptical disk comprising: a recording region having a plurality ofsectors; wherein said plurality of sectors are assigned sequentiallynumbered addresses using binary digits; a logical track, as a unit foran access operation, is formed by no more and no less than 2^(n)sectors; and a sector number of each of said sectors within the logicaltrack is given in a field for the addresses by using no more and no lessthan n binary digits, where n is an integer greater than
 1. 14. Anoptical disk drive for use with an optical disk that includes arecording region having a plurality of sectors; wherein the plurality ofsectors in the recording region are assigned sequentially numberedaddresses using binary digits, wherein a logical track, as a unit for anaccess operation, is formed by no more and no less than 2^(n) sectors,and wherein a sector number of each of said sectors within the logicaltrack is given in a field for the addresses by using no more and no lessthan n binary digits, where n is an integer greater than 1; and theoptical disk drive device determines a logical track address for sectorsby extracting a predetermined number of bits from a beginning fo theaddress associated with each sector.
 15. An optical disk drive devicefor use with an optical disk that includes a recording region having aplurality of sectors; wherein the plurality of sectors in the recordingregion are assigned sequentially numbered addresses using binary digits,wherein a logical track, as a unit for an access operation, is formed byno more and no less than 2^(n) sectors, and wherein a sector number ofeach of said sectors within the logical track is given in a field forthe addresses by using no more and no less than n binary digits, where nis an integer greater than 1; and the optical disk drive devicedetermines an order of sectors in a logical track by extracting apredetermined number of bits from an end of the address associated witheach sector.
 16. An optical disk according to claim 1, wherein n is 4.17. An optical disk according to claim 1, wherein n is
 7. 18. An opticaldisk according to claim 9, wherein n is
 4. 19. An optical disk accordingto claim 9, wherein n is
 7. 20. An optical disk according to claim 10,wherein n is
 4. 21. An optical disk according to claim 10, wherein n is7.
 22. An optical disk according to claim 13, wherein n is
 4. 23. Anoptical disk according to claim 13, wherein n is
 7. 24. An optical diskaccording to claim 14, wherein n is
 4. 25. An optical disk according toclaim 14, wherein n is
 7. 26. An optical disk according to claim 15,wherein n is
 4. 27. An optical disk according to claim 15, wherein n is7.